This issue of Amazing Spider-Man has been known for many things. The second appearance of the Rhino as he continues his battle with Spider-Man, John Jameson being affected by space spores and the powers he receives, and much more, But it's mostly known for the very last panel of this issue. That's right, just one panel! A panel in which the most copied "Spider-Phrase" originated, besides the bit about "With great power must also come great responsibility". Ever since Amazing Spider-Man #15, readers have been wondering about a character that mostly stayed in the background until this very issue. In that issue, the niece of Aunt May's neighbor Anna Watson was mentioned. In Amazing Spider-Man #16 she was mentioned by name for the first time: Mary Jane Watson. It wasn't until Amazing Spider-Man #25 when the readers got to first see MJ, well sort of, since her face was obscured at least twice in that issue. Mary Jane made one other face-obscured appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #38, in an issue where she was supposed to meet for the umpteenth time. Also of note concerning Mary Jane and Peter meeting, is that she also made another appearance (chronologically), before they actually met. It was in Marvel Heroes & Legends #1 (October 1997), a one-shot featuring an untold tale of the Avengers. In it, Aunt May and Mary Jane are seen walking down the street, talking about the proposed blind date between MJ and Peter that their Aunts were trying to set-up. Anyway, Peter has been very reluctant to meet her since he first learned about her, but there are no more excuses. The time has come for the future married couple to actually meet, and it's right here in this action packed issue!

Did I mention that the Rhino and John Jameson are in this issue also? Yes I did, and on the first page the action really starts! Spider-Man is seen by many taking a bag of money from a bank and swings away. Can Spider-Man be going bad? Well read on and we will see. After the police are brought into the scene at the bank, Spider-Man goes to the top of a bridge and throws the bag into the river below. At the offices of the Daily Bugle, Frederick Foswell arrives looking for publisher J. Jonah Jameson with the news of Spider-Man pulling the robbery, but only Betty Brant and Ned Leeds are present. Jameson is with his son at Kennedy Airport seeing his son John off. At the airport, strange things begin to occur. The younger Jameson begins to look flushed, and his head starts to spin, feeling like he is "busting out". He smashes a metal pillar and then his muscles begin to grow ripping his clothes. Somehow, John Jameson has acquired super strength, but not without dizziness and feeling off-balance. John blames the space spores he recently acquired for the powers. His father takes him over to a federal lab within an hour, and they speculate that the enemy agents that hired the Rhino last issue must have anticipated John's transformation. At the lab, the scientists speculate that the spores planet has a greater gravitational pull, therefore a greater strength is needed. The result is that John Jameson is now acting as if he was on the moon. The powers are not without their drawbacks however, as there is now a great strain placed in John's heart and nervous system, and a special suit must be designed that will protect him and slow him down. The scientists contact Tony Stark's (Iron Man) technicians recreated and delivered a green and yellow suit that looks like some sort of spacesuit. The suit allows John to use his new found powers, but at the same time, regulate his nervous system and heartbeat. John Jameson is now a superhero!

As the Jameson's leave, Jonah receives a call from Foswell telling Jameson of the Spider-Man robbery, and Jonah is delighted. Jonah now wants his own son to go after Spider-Man, and John is only willing to go along with his father. The only bad thing about him leaving is that it is dangerous to leave their heavily guarded premises. Elsewhere, The Rhino is in a court house where some doctors try and fail to take off his suit. The cannot administer tranquilizers to him because of his incredibly thick skin. Outside their room, a judge prepares attorney Foggy Nelson (Partner of Matt Murdock AKA Daredevil) on defending the Rhino. Just as Nelson prepares to consult with his new client, the Rhino has awaken! He takes care of the doctors and charges through the walls like they were cardboard. The doctors miraculously knock him unconscious by using a spray form of the tranquilizer. The doctors wonder what to do with, and one replies: "If only we knew his origin!"

Now to young Peter Parker, as he rides his new motor bike to college where he meets up with Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and Flash Thompson. Gwen invites Peter to a party she is throwing the next Sunday, and Peter accepts, but he just remembered that he promised to meet Mary Jane at dinner that night and backs out. While leaving his last class, Peter says to himself: "I'm as anxious to meet Mary Jane on Sunday as I am to meet the Hulk! And she'll probably look like him!" If only he knew! Later, Peter changes into Spider-Man, and goes swinging about the city where he "bumps" into the newest superhero in town: John Jameson! Jameson accuses Spider-Man of being a crook and the fight begins. Jameson proves to be a very formidable foe and even breaks through Spider-Man's webbing. The fight rages on, and the entire time Spider-Man denies being involved in any robbery. Spider-Man uses his webbing on John's face taking away his sight, then throws him down on the ground giving him an opportunity to swing away. While swinging away, Spider-Man thinks back to when he was in the bank earlier, and remembers when he saw a payroll (money) bag that set-off his spider senses, and he quickly changes into Spider-Man and discovers that there is a bomb inside the bag. That is the true reason why he took the bag and threw it into the waters, but of course that not how it appeared to the many bystanders that witnessed the event.

The next stop for Spider-Man is the office of J. Jonah Jameson to try and tell his side of the story, none of which Jonah buys into. Spider-Man leaves and tells Jonah to call the bank and ask them if any money is missing, which he does receiving the answer he doesn't want to hear: No money is missing from the vault! The younger Jameson returns to his father to learn that Spider-Man did not take any money, but John still wants a piece of Spider-Man. He doesn't sound like the John that his father remembers, and Jonah thinks that he has become cruel somehow. John then returns to a hotel with a federal agent, but he breaks free from it and the guards, wanting to prove that he's the greatest superhero of all time. Jameson and Spider-Man meet again near a high voltage area, and begin fighting once again. The battles continues for a couple of pages before Spider-Man punches John Jameson into an electric generator, causing feedback from the electro-magnetic field built inside of Jameson's suit. Jameson is knocked unconscious, as Spider-Man planned all along, wanting to shock whatever changed Jameson during his space walk, out of his system before in would become firmly entrenched. Jameson's powers are now gone, and Spider-Man makes a call to the federal agents to get their man. John Jameson is retrieved safely but the agents and his father, and they learn that the spores have been destroyed.

After Spider-Man swings back home and changes back to Peter Parker, and he gets some sleep. He is awaken by his Aunt May reminding him of their dinner meeting with the Watson's. Peter gets all dressed up and thinks to himself: "I've spent months trying to avoid meeting Mrs. Watson's niece!"..."I guess I might as well meet her and get it over with!"..."She may not be as bad as I expect!...She'll probably be worse!". Peter and his Aunt walk down the block to the Mrs. Watson's house where they are greeted by Anna Watson. Anna states that Mary Jane will be there any minute after she left her apartment. Peter sits on the couch while May and Anna talk at the dinner table, with his mind on Gwen Stacy. The doorbell rings and Anna answers the door with the following introduction: "Peter Parker, I'd like you to meet my niece", to which Peter responds: "You mean...THAT'S Mary Jane?!!". The last panel of the issue. The most important panel of the issue. The panel that will live in infamy. OK, I'm getting carried away here! Anyway, a gorgeous curvy redhead responds with the unforgettable line: "Face it, Tiger...You just hit the Jackpot!"

So Peter and Mary Jane has finally met! There will be many ups and downs with their relationships throughout the years, with Peter proposing marriage twice, with the second she accepted. Next issue, the two have their very first discussion together, and the saga of the Rhino continues!

Reprinted In:
Marvel Tales #31
Marvel Tales #182
Marvel Treasury Edition #1
 Marvel Masterworks Vol. 22
Spider-Man Essentials II
Esquire/ Eye Magazine Insert (Partial)